Monday, June 30, 2014

Remember that new "Instant Download Provider" I mentioned? I have been having so much fun with it.

First of all, I have been able to do this!

And, thanks to the new CSS I have been learning, it follows you as you scroll down the page.

Ok, so I don't yet understand the finer points and in some of the older IE browsers it does not work properly but, when it does work, it's great!

You can see how many items you have added to your basket, change the currency you wish to buy in and see the total in the currency you have chosen. I have set it for some of the more common currencies but am happy to add more if I get a big enough demand for them.

If you click on "View Basket", there is a drop down menu where you can change the language on all of the buttons. I have set the default language on the pages to the most appropriate. Go and have a play! Click on the German or Swedish flag and see it change automatically. I am loving it.

And for those whose browsers don't show the cloud in its correct position, I have added these. They sit just above the first pattern on each of the pattern pages and you will have to scroll back up the page to use them.

Sorry but I am not a website designers and I don't even begin to understand the finer points of CSS. I just try to find a solution to a problem when somebody emails me about one.

All of this means that I no longer use Ravelry for my instant downloads. I am sorry to say this but they just do not fill my needs any more.

I am planning on expanding into kits and possibly supplying some speciality yarns/threads. When I do this I would have to look at an alternative shopping cart as Ravelry does not provide this service. There new EU rules have just made me do it all sooner rather than later.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Ok, so I understand the concept of CSS. I am also amazing at "Copy and Paste". So all I need to do is find the relevant coding and C&P it into the right places?

Errr, Nope!

I won't bore you with the details but there was a lot more work than that to get the pages looking like they do. However, you may think, apart from the fact I put the navigation buttons down the side, that they do not look a whole lot different. They may not to you but, trust me, they do to Google!

Go and have a look!

I managed to get the patterns pages finished well before the deadline for the new selling regs. This included the new T&C page along with a cancellation form. I also managed to get the T&C pdfs upload to all of my Ravelry patterns. Whether people actually download them, is another matter.

However, Ravelry does not have the tick box required by EU sellers to protect themselves from unscrupulous people and this is one of the reasons I have decided not to use their download facilities on my site any more.

I have found a new instant download provider and, I must say, I am loving it!

Yes, more work to do on the website. More learning curves. And more late nights.

The Blog of a Happy Hooker

I am Helen Free. I was born and brought up in South Wales but, in 2004, "emigrated" to the Cambridge Fens.

I love Rainbows and lots of colour. You can see this in my work, designing and writing crochet patterns which I sell on my site Rainbow Valley. "Enfys" is Welsh for "Rainbow". It is pronounced "Enn-viss.

I also do a whole load of other crafts and decided a blog was the right place to bring them all together, especially as they constantly overlap in real life.